Monday, August 30, 2010

When it comes to fashion, yeah, I’m a little all over the place. Unlike popular blogs, I find it difficult to really focus on one aspect of the industry- mostly because I enjoy it all so much. The industry. That’s what this blog is dedicated to. Mostly, it is a way for me to keep track of what I’m interested in- street fashion, color trends, designer lines, whatever. I have access to great materials. Seriously. $20,000 fashion industry websites, trade publications, insider information… but all of that doesn’t specifically help me organize my fashion life where I live.

I moved to Nashville, Tennessee two years ago. While not a fan of country music, I was apprehensive about the change, but thrilled to accept a job in the industry I love- fashion education. The fashion scene here is growing and there are always events happening in the area. The only problem- there is no specific place to communicate these events and other Nashville area fashion to the community. We do have the Nashville Fashion Group, but the site has been under construction for months now. Various blogs touch on specific aspects of local events, but mostly concentrate on the fashion industry at large. This is where I come in.

I am starting, in addition to continuing this one, a new blog. The Nashville Fashion Blog is designed to create awareness of the Nashville fashion industry by highlighting local events, retailers, street style, and fashion. Please keep updated with this blog and pass it around. We’ll get organized, Nashville. We’ll get there…

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Basic clothier American Apparel is in the midst of a financial crisis, as founder Dov Charney looms in worry over the company’s $120.3 million debt. Losses have reached $7 million in the past three months alone.

“Based on this, and trends occurring in the company’s business after the second quarter and projected for the remainder of 2010, the company may not have sufficient liquidity necessary to sustain operations for the next 12 months”, the company reported.

American Apparel employs over 10,000 worldwide in it’s over 280 stores and many of these individuals are in danger of losing their jobs.

In an attempt to increase consumer spending, the retailer is moving away from its ‘hipster’ appeal and image and opting for a more preppy, timeless look. Charney stated: “Hipsters are from a certain time period. The stereotype of a hipster is not something people aspire to anymore. Do you want to be a hipster? Nobody wants to be a hipster.”

Sunday, August 22, 2010

I recently posted about my infatuation with street style; fashion at its ground roots. Secretly critiquing, but openly in awe, of the styling choices of the ‘regular consumer’ gets me off. Naturally, fashion magazines, blogs, and scouts focus on the obvious age choice of customer- late teens to early thirties; the age fashion is created for and most idealized by. But what happens after thirty? Who is there to capture the essence of the baby boom generation? And, dare I even say, the G.I. or Silent generation? Is there even fashion after thirty? forty? fifty? sixty? Answer: Yes.

I’ve been obsessed with Advanced Style Blog for years now. Blogger Maayan Zilberman has been chronicling street and personal fashion of senior citizens since 2008 and her blog has recently gained a popular following. Personally, I try to somehow weave this blog into my curriculum every quarter to introduce elderly fashion consumption and personal expression to my awestricken eighteen-year-old-ish students.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Music and fashion are inextricably linked. Does music influence fashion? Does fashion influence music? How much of a correlation is there between the two? What inspires creations? What beats, melodies, sounds, chords speak to the creative design? What fabrics encompass the music that drives us? Can you tell a story through the photographic fashion image and music?

I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I do know there is raw passion and energy embodying fashion and sound. If you listen to the beautifully sorrowful and ardent voice, the tumbling of the body in a watery still life births with motion. Just listen.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Last night I attended the Peek-A-Boo Vintage Fashion Show at Billups Art Gallery in hip East Nashville with a friend. I had been to a show at Billups before featuring local designers and collections so terribly stitched and questionably tasteful, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Last night’s event wasn’t exactly a fashion show- more like models perusing through the intimate crowd showing off quirky fashions from Nashville’s hottest vintage retailers. And literally, you could buy the shirt off their back. The venue opened up a few of its artists’ studios and I browsed handmade necklaces and admired abstract paintings while sipping the margarita I was offered. A band I had never heard of, Keith Moon, jammed generic melodies and patrons nibbled on the assortment of moon pies scattered throughout the room.

While this was definitely not an extraordinary event, I must say that I did enjoy the intimacy and casual vibe of the night. I did manage to find an adorable vintage beaded clutch and won a vintage hat during the raffle (see below). And I even discussed with owner and artist Anthony Billups the possibility of partnering with him to have some fashion shows there. The artsy urban feel of the venue has great promise… Stay tuned…

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Without a doubt, I am a fashion enthusiast. I always look forward to viewing the “it” designer of the moment’s creative and innovative silhouettes, fabrics, and ideologies. I crave visual merchandising news and being wowed by pioneering display strategies. I get a secret high from knowing the future fashion trends two years before the common ‘fashionista’ does. Despite the world of fashion information I have at my fingertips- collections, trends, news, graphics.. I still get most passionate and overly excited about street fashion. Street fashion is real. Street fashion is now. Street fashion starts trends just as much as it supports them.

Fashion starts at many locations and there are several theories as to how fashion arises. The trickle-down theory suggests fashion trends begin when designers create garments and individuals follow suit. (In fact, the trickle-down fashion approach was how people dressed until Marie Antoinette stuck a feather in her coif and courtiers followed the trend.) The trickle-up theory of fashion suggests fashion starts on the streets, with the individual consumer, develops and popularizes from there, and fashion designers eventually catch on. This, my friends, is the most fascinating and powerful type of fashion trend there is- the trend that we create. The trend that is not dictated to us from those designers in power. It is the unity and innovation of people on the streets that popularizes fashion looks. This is my favorite aspect of the fashion industry.

Here are some street fashion looks from the Siren Music Festival in New York. Egyptian and Aztec prints were prevalent at this year’s fest and were worn all all-over graphic patterns or mixed and matched with similar type patterns.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Haute Swapping for a Cause is an alternative way to "thrift" shop and support the community. Individuals get together and swap items from their closet, participate in the Haute Lounge and silent auction while raising money for a local non-profit organization.

About Me

Amber C. holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Fashion Merchandising and currently is working towards the obtainment of her Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership (May 2013). She has been employed as a Merchandising, Apparel, and Textiles faculty member at the University of Kentucky and currently runs the Fashion & Retail Management department at the Art Institute of Tennessee-Nashville where she gets to spread her love and knowledge of the fashion industry with students daily. She has presented her research on consumer shopping behaviors at several regional and national conferences including the prestigious National Retail Federation Conference in New York, NY.
Contact Amber C. at nashvillefashionblog@gmail.com for information regarding Nashville Fashion Blog or if you would like to be featured in Nashville Fashion Blog.
Find Amber C. on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/ambercforever.